Sightless
by Aiko Isari
Summary: (01 AU) When someone comes back from death, they don't always stay the same. For Yagami Hikari, this is definitely the case. However, before the Digital World can even get involved, someone else does. Life -and death- are never the same again.
1. The Still Night

_**A/N:** _Hello. Is an Aiko crazy, why yes she is. It's fun.

Challenge Fills: Tale in Fragments Challenge, 50 prompts, easy list 1 for 44- rigid, Advent Calendar Challenge day 8. write an AU, and Diversity Writing Challenge. J10. Write a story with no prologue or epilogue.

First story in a series here, too! Name of the series escapes me now but... hey, that's life.

Warning for magic, eventual murder, violence, maybe a swear or two, and situations harmful to minors. This has elements of the Kara no Kyoukai series in it, but not enough that you need to watch the series to know what's going on. Just stuff might stick out.

Okay, all of the technical stuff is out of the way, here we go. Please read and review!

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1\. The Still Night

When she wakes for the first time, Hikari hears nothing.

She doesn't hear herself breathe, and she wonders if she is. When she opens her eyes, the world she sees is muted watercolor.

She feels no cold. Her body is bare and pale. Around her, the world expands endlessly, and she is alone in it.

_Onii-chan? Where am I?_

She makes to say it aloud, but her lips refuse to move and she realizes she can't blink. Her chest aches and the world bends around her for a moment, but all goes still again and she wavers.

_How did I get here?_

The question is delayed, perhaps by her own sluggish mind. She desires the answer for all of the few seconds it takes to process the thought and then it is gone.

She is tired. She wants to sleep.

So again and again, Hikari closes her eyes and drifts away. And each time, each time it is so much harder to go back, like there are tentacles in her soul that say to sleep forever. They're wonderful and she wants to listen to them even though they have no voices and she shouldn't hear anything at all in the silent, noiseless air.

Even so, she wants to sleep and dream and doesn't know why she can't keep dreaming. Her eyes shut and open and the drift happens like the waves from a beach shore and the next thing she knows there is a voice ripping her eardrums and crying.

_Where are you? Where are you?_

_Who are you?_

She can't identify the first speaker, and it scares her like someone following her home. But nothing comes from it and everything falls quiet. Her heart beats like a bird's trapped in a cage and screaming. She feels the tears in her blood but it isn't quite the same as the voiceless urge to sleep and dream of this world for eternity.

For some reason, she can't help but resist now. She wants to move. She feels stiff and wants to move but ends up drifting away again.

The air begins to ring and she can hear and it is _real_ hearing this time and all she can think is that something is about to happen.

Then her body tears down the middle and she sees blood and has no idea what to think or to feel because there is no pain and she knows it should hurt _and_ bleed. All she thinks is how much the pain isn't there and without the pain, there is something else missing.

_Hurry up and open your eyes._

When did she close them?

Hikari drifts in this state, wishing for it to end because there's somewhere else she needs to be, somewhere where it's not cold and there are actual voices, things she can understand.

Did the Digimon bring her here? They brought Koromon to her and her brother back then, was she joining them?

"Why are you still sleeping?"

Her eyes open but they don't open because the void is still around her but now she isn't alone in it. There is a woman there now and she is staring with bright eyes and a crooked smile. Or perhaps it's not a smile, but it's not a sad face either. Maybe she doesn't know what her face looks like.

"Why are you still sleeping?" she repeats with a mouth that does not move. "What is tying you here?"

"i don't know," she says before she can stop herself and the other woman chuckles.

"Liar," she says, not unkindly."You resist the pull, one way or another way. Why?"

Hikari wished she could shake her head because she doesn't understand, but instead tells the woman this. She earns a laugh like a breath of air and the woman floats closer. She is moving, how is she actually moving? Her fingers touch Hikari's cheek.

"I see," she says. "You are trying to communicate. Yes, you hear me and see me but I can't return this, I see..." She makes that air laugh again and pushes Hikari away. "You are a stubborn one."

This time she doesn't drift but fall and when Hikari's eyes open again, she sees a white ceiling and bright light and everything is very heavy and painful now.

"Yagami-chan!"


	2. The Stale Scent

_**A/N:** _It's good to know that people stalk me for my Hikari torture. Hehe. Thank you loyal followers and friends. Please read and review if you can!

Warning for attempted self-harm. Yes, I said that. For prompt 14- chemical!

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2\. The Stale Scent

She doesn't recognize the voices around her at first and doesn't sit up in response to them, remaining almost entirely still and just trying to breathe. The deep lungfuls of air are like sharp bites with weird tastes in her mouth and yet she can't stop. She tries to stop and sit up and shivers. The room is chilly but when she sits up a curtain of hair follows her ears and she sees a pale-faced woman. Her brown eyes are big and Hikari is caught up in the urge to ask her what's wrong.

She sees the new woman for all of a few moments before her vision is almost covered by lines. Each gray and red, like a bloody, dirty spiderweb. Hikari sees them running over eyes and hands and down the leg and just the sight of them makes her stomach flip backwards and nausea run up her throat. The panic sets in and she can't explain why but her palms go up to her eyes before she can stop them and she presses-

_Can't see, don't want to see, don't want to_ think-

She feels the woman's hands on her wrists and she kicks out without thinking. Don't they see the lines, don't they know they're bad, don't they-

Sharp pain rises in her neck, then she's drowning.

When she wakes again, she is alone and the room is dark.

Her head is calmer now, she is not panicked, a part of her remembers where she probably is. A hospital. She had collapsed from being sick, so sick. She remembers being sleepy, resting and hearing low murmurs around her ears and then falling down into that void. Then... then there is very little, little but for that woman, that empty woman who doesn't have any feeling or thoughts at all. Would she have become that way too, if she hadn't woken up?

Her thoughts hurt. They are so big and heavy, she thinks they will spill out of her ears and maybe take up the rest of the space between all of the lines so then she can't actually see things anymore.

In the dark, the lines are faded, almost wisps, traced over the wilting flowers and the vase holding them. The air is quiet and she wants to press her palms back over her eyes, finish what might have been started and she has no clue why she wants to do this but she thinks if she doesn't, something terrible and sad will happen and she's not sure what it is.

Does she want to know?

But as Hikari sits up to do so, the wind rustles through the open window and a paper flies from the table and onto her bed. She takes it between two fingers and drops it. She can barely read her big brother's name on it before her eyes water and she curls herself under the sheets.

"Well, _you're_ a lot younger than I was expecting."

She peeks her head out. There is a woman there, hair flaming red and eyes like a gushing river. She's frowning, the expression not of anger but of curious interest. Hikari stares at her and shifts on the bed. The lines form, scrawling like her attempts at kanji. Reflexively, she ducks her head down.

Before Hikari can complete the motion, however, the woman has sat herself upon the bed, gripping Hikari's chin with thin, sharp fingers. "What are you looking away for?"

Her voice is icicles, melting icicles piercing Hikari's jaw without doing it and she is forced not to look away like she wants to and finally mumbles out. 'The lines... they're on your face..."

The woman snatches her hand away, affront on her lips. "I am not that old," she says and Hikari shakes her head, unconsciously reaching out and making to trace a pattern with her finger. The woman's other hand catches hers and she tuts. "No, no, not like that. You could have been more specific, no need to get violent about it." She smiles now and the expression is more predatory than kind.

"You could have killed me for a second there, little girl, and then where would we be?"


	3. The Identified Expression

_**A/N:** _I really almost forgot to do this. Ah well, here you go! Enjoy and please drop a review if you can! For prompt- education.

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3\. The Identified Expression

Hikari blinks. Then blinks again. She rubs her eyes, trying to look through the lines. She sees the fabric of the yellow shirt as it swishes away, the woman going to examine the chart dangling from a nearby pole. Hikari makes to speak but can't get the words out. Instead, the woman speaks over her, to herself but still a bit noisy. Hikari expects a nurse by now. Yet no one comes.

"Lessee... Yagami Hikari... admitted April seventeenth, nineteen ninety-six for accelerated pneumonia, birthday is... height... weight...blood type... god you've been here a stone's throw, haven't you?" The woman's expression shifts, amusement revealing canines pointed like knives. "It's a bit past ninety-six ain't it?"

"Eh?" It's all she can say, voice kitten soft in the room that seems filled with this woman's presence. She had fallen and passed out and been sleeping. Could she have been sleeping that long? The very thought makes her head spin.

The woman sighs. "Poor lass, you ain' gotta clue, huh?" She strides over to the other side of the room, face thoughtful, and through the lines she can see it turn. "It's July of nineteen ninety-seven, sweet girl. You've been asleep a while."

Hikari flinches and looks down at her hands. They too are covered in lines, but they are also slow moving now, creaking in her head. Her legs are heavy and she can't shift them. "I was asleep for-"

"Over a year, yep," she says. "And you're awake now. But you don't like it, do you?" The blue eyes are back on here

Only now does it hit Hikari. She shouldn't be trusting this woman, this stranger. "Who are you?" Her brother would be upset with her that she hadn't said that sooner!

The woman laughs. "Oh, there we go, was waiting for that! Took you a bit, but you're a wee thing, so guess it's all right for now." She almost seems to pirouette and bow. "I'm Rion, Homura Rion. And I'm here about your eyes."

"My... my eyes?" Her skin crawls, she wants to push them again...

She scratches her head. "Well, your eyesight specifically. Ya know, the lines?"

Hikari tilts her head. "How do you know?" These questions are taking much too long for her to think of them, and it hurts her head to try. Rion is familiar, an itch in the back of her brain that she doesn't know how to scratch.

She gets another smile. "We-ell, I see 'em too. You're seeing death, sweetheart. And I'm here to help you there. First thing is that I have to do... this!"

She strides over, quick movements and Hikari tries to scramble into her pillow. Rion lowers her finger in an imitation of a gun and pretends to fire.

"Bang!"

Hikari jumps and in that brief instant, she is unable to see. Her vision goes entirely black.

She can hear Rion giggling as though she is the child and it is coming from all around her and she doesn't understand why. Then, the world creeps back in to view, colors and shapes and blurs returning into focus. The world's edges are fuzzed. But the lines are gone, like they were never there.

Hikari is young but she knows nothing good is easy to get. "How?"

"Magic." She says magic like her brother says 'obviously' before he does something really fun or dangerous. Hikari looks at Rion, now able to see glowing tattoos on her arms that were covered by the lines. They are streaks twisted in a pattern her brain doesn't have the words for, like chains and infinities and other weird shapes. She sees a pair of scars on each cheek, badly cut red hair and each palm looks worn and burnt.

"Magic?" she repeats.

"Yep." Rion finally sits down in the nearby chair. "It's not party tricks and happy endings. It's blood and practicality."

"Practi-what?"

Rion blinks. "Sorry, I keep forgetting you're actually a kid." She grins and says. "Means it's useful. I'm gonna teach you how to use it."

"Why?"

Rion throws up her hands, pretending exasperation. "Goddess alive, you ask so many questions! Was I ever this curious?" Hikari doesn't answer this and Rion grins. "Basically, if I don't teach you, you could kill some people by accident. A lot. And it's not pretty. Death is not pretty, especially when it's an accident."She looks around, as if she hears a voice that Hikari cannot. "I've spent a bit too long chattin' at you. Get some sleep and say hi to your brother for me! Talk to you again!"

She's gone within half-a-step, like she was never there at all.

Hikari stares, then the world goes woozy and she passes out, falling back on the bed with a fwump.


	4. The Offered Chance

_**A/N:** _No guys, I did not forget to other day, my computer updated while I was sleeping and my word processing program decided to not auto recover any files so a lot of recent work was lost that wasn't on google drive, including a couple of Night updates. Fixing that though! So I've been spending time with that and finals. So... yeah, sorry about that. That should hopefully be fixed soon. Anyway, on with the fic.

Thank you Angelfish, and all my random favs and follows. I'm jumping in now. This is for prompt 50-stay. Well, here we go! Please read and review!

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4\. The Offered Chance

Hikari awakes the next morning expecting the lines to be there, dark against the bright sky. Her vision is still blurry but remains lineless. She doesn't sit up, but waits for the nurse. She knows the woman is nearby. Should she open her eyes again?

"Yagami-chan?" Well, that answered that. "Are you awake?"

"Un." It's easy to say, but she's slow to lift herself into a sitting position. Her body feels heavy, heavier than the night before and the day before that and she wonders if she's really slept longer than a morning.

"It's good to see you relaxed again," the nurse says, fluffing the pillows. "Your family will be by this afternoon, so let's get some nutrients in you that aren't just from the IV, all right?"

Hikari nods, not sure what she is nodding to until a drink is placed in her hand. The nurse says other things, calling the doctor in. All of their talking makes Hikari's head spin like a top and she's surprised she can answer their questions. It is so much better once they're gone.

"Bit overwhelming, isn't it?"

Hikari would have jumped if she could, but instead, she turns her head to see Rion at the windowsill with a smile. "They're confusing..." she says without thinking.

Rion laughs. "They're adults."

Hikari nods. It is something in those words, something that reminds her of watching children be shepherded around her, as though she is a big rock. She leaves that though and says: "Why are you here?"

"Well, you're my apprentice, so I need to make sure you don't slip into the Akasha again."

Her tone is Papa's about his second beer can to her exasperated mother, but the words make less sense. "Apprentice? Akasha?" She parrots them and tilts her head,. The second word is rushed syllables and oddness.

Rion groans. "Ew, sorry, I sounded like an adult."

Hikari can't help it; she giggles.

Rion makes a noise like Miko's purring. "There's a kiddie laugh." She frowns, as if a thought has just occurred to her. "How old're you again?"

"Six." Well, she's been asleep for so long, is that even true?

"Mm... that's emotionally true so it should be all right..." Rion pierces her with those blue eyes again and the feeling is not unlike a wasp in her neck or a needle in her arm. "All right! Wanna learn some magic tricks?"

"Like rabbits?" Hikari has never liked those sorts of tricks. Being trapped in a hat (or squished in some part of a hat) didn't seem like fun to her. She also can't help but notice her questions weren't actually answered.

Rion shakes her head. "Those are parlor tricks, sweet." Her voice is grave. "I mean real magic, magic with a purpose. Magic that _does_ things… like heal, like hurt."

"Like kill?" She doesn't know why the word pops into her head but there it is, plain as day.

It gets a smile, no, her brother would call it a leer. "Exactly, little sweet. _Precisely_ that. But not now. Killing is delicate and sensitive work, being related to dying and all."

Hikari feels her heart lurch and can't pin why, but it vanishes the second Rion flicks her forehead.

The lines are back after that.

Hikari moves to cover her eyes, but Rion's strong, adult hands pulls them back. "No, pretty lass, none of that. I did that last night as proof it could happen. Now, today, you need to prove to me you can learn."

Hikari has never been a child to complain about small things; it's hard to when Taichi runs to fix them right away. However, this doesn't seem like a tiny thing, rather a very large, adult thing and it was probably very important to complain about it.

But she doesn't and only nods.

Rion lets her go and sits back on the bed. "Atta girl, das the way." Her voice remains soft and calm and Hikari is drawn to it like a moth to flame. "Now, I looked around on my way in. Yer gettin' some family in here soon. I want you to act normal with them."

"Normal?"

Rion tried not to laugh. "Yeah, normal. Talk to them. You missed them, right?"

Hikari blinks, but before she can answer there is the sound of footsteps at her door. Someone knocks and when Hikari turns to look, Rion disappears.

Then she hears a delighted shout and her black vision is full of blue shirt and brown hair and Hikari almost passes out from the sheer force of her brother's hug.


	5. The Uncontrolled Relief

**_A/N:_ **Happy Monday! Kind of. Anyway, here is today's update, for the prompt- worried. Nightshadegirl, the only question I can answer is the one for chapter two with a nice, empathic yes. Unfortunately, it took her a lot longer to wake up than in the canon, so everything is all nice and messed up. That all said, please read and review and enjoy everybody!

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5\. The Uncontrolled Relief

For a moment all she can see are the black lines scurrying around each other and she feels fear but then her brother's voice babbles in her ear. His voice is deeper and kind of chokey, like he swallowed wasabi by accident. It is still her big brother, though, her silly older brother.

"You were so slow waking up, Mom almost had kittens, and everyone's been freaked out! Sora usually comes with me to visit you, but she and her mom are fighting again, I think, I dunno, I don't ask. I think she's still mad about the hat, but that was ages ago and I didn't mean to-"

"Taichi, she needs to breathe."

Taichi stops, face pink and Hikari is both relieved and confused because of the quiet expression on her mother's face, what she can see of it anyway. Taichi glances at her and Hikari feels a lump rise in her throat.

"Sorry," she says over it, not knowing why she is saying sorry, because there were so many reasons, two years' worth of apologies.

Her mother smiles and the sad feeling fills up her lungs and expands the lump in her throat. She feels her eyes water and the lines don't blur when she cries and that's actually kind of scary. Taichi lifts her easily from the bed and hugs her, laughing and not crying but it is a good laugh so she doesn't mind. The lines run up her mother's salmon jacket and Hikari ponders tracing it too with her finger.

Remembering the flowers makes her stop, crestfallen, and lower her hand. Her mother's face hurts, and Hikari wilts, then tries to smile.

"I'm sorry," she repeats, pulling away from Taichi too.

The air is tense until her father walks in and somehow that makes it worse for her because she sees the lines in his face and the exhaustion all over her family and all she can think is that the lines are everywhere.

They talk to her for a while, about classes she has missed and what she has to do to feel better and come home and all she thinks is that she wants them to leave so she can throw up what she's managed to eat today.

But when the doctor walks in, she knows that's not possible and forces herself to smile, answering more questions and being talked about like she isn't there. The more she wants them gone, the more she swears that the lines are glowing, as if saying to trace them, to draw on them, and she just pulls her hands closer into her lap. She hasn't forgotten Rion's words, even though she has no reason to trust her.

She has no reason not to, either.

By the time visiting hours and examinations end, Hikari's head is pounding and she wants to cry.

"You see why you need to learn now?"

Rion's words drift into her mind but she isn't actually there.

Maybe Rion isn't real.

Maybe all that sleep has made her crazy.


	6. The First Snap

_**A/N:** _Sorry for how late these updates are tonight. I'm still working on some and I got really busy today of all days. And i thought I could relax. Anyway, this chapter is for the prompt "step". Thank you for all the reviews, which I cannot publicly respond to because spoilers. ;D Until next time, please read and review!

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6\. The First Snap

There's something wonderful about the silence that she's left to at the end of the day.. She has never realized how tiring her family is. Now they have all of these secret looks that she doesn't understand and even Taichi is less bright and cheery than he was before and it's all very confusing. She barely has the energy to poke at her food.

Of course, she's not alone. She sees the doctors peeking through the window, big shadows that linger and are split by the lines. She wonders how she can see the lines through the door, and why even now it makes her heart hurt to see them. Rion had mentioned killing before, when the word had slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it. Was that what the lines meant?

She could hurt them through the door.

_You could kill them._

Hikari drops her utensils, letting plastic bounce against plastic. With quick breaths, she slips from the bed to look out the window. All that are there are trees and plants and she can't see those in the dark and the lines are even darker, so the sky is just a blur of no color. She tries to calm herself, tries to block out the thought that didn't sound like her but now it _really does._

She can do this. She can be okay. She already saw the monsters. She could see the lines too.

For ages, she had noticed the monsters. It isn't hard to, not when they don't really try to hide. They walk around people, through people. No one sees a thing, not even when they go away.

Just like nobody sees the lines, except her.

That's scary.

_She's_ scary.

'Yes, yes you are."

She feels Rion's hand in her hair before she knows the other is there. Hikari jumps and Rion cheerfully picks her up mid-leap and twirls her. It should be terrifying, and even a little funny, but instead, Hikari merely feels sick and tired and for some reason starts to cry.

Rion catches on so fast that it's rather unnerving but pulls her into a hug. Hikari kicks and struggles but is left helpless to an adult's strong grip. Her cheeks burn. She's having a tantrum, a kiddie, dumb front of a stranger. She struggles to pull them down, back, put them away.

"Hey, sweetheart, enough of that. You're a kid, you're supposed to lose your guts a couple of times. Don't fight it." Rion's voice is unusual, almost angry and Hikari wonders if it's towards her or something else. She's so tired, she's not sure she cares.

She squirms sadly,body sagging. She now really hates being small. And is really glad Taichi's not here.

"That's it. Let it out. Snap. The quicker you fall, the better you can get up again."

Hikari focuses on breathing, staring over Rion's head out the window.

"Relax." Rion's voice is calm. "You're not ready."

"But I need to be."

The tantrum that had filled her head swells again, but it is tempered by something alien. She needs to be ready, to do _something_, and she doesn't know what that something is.

It doesn't even feel like it's _her_ something.

Rion sets her down, her expression unreadable. "Yeah," she agrees sadly. "You need to be ready for so much."

"Am I gonna do something?" Hikari squirms at the thought. Is she going to see that day again? Play with Koromon? Can she ever play again with all of these lines?

Rion shrugs. "I can't tell you that." She claps her hands. "All right, here's what you're gonna do for me for a while. I want you to imagine it raining. Create a storm in your mind, with angry winds and hail and lightning. Create it until you can't even see the lines when you open your eyes. Keep imagining it."

Hikari looks down at her lap. "I don't like storms much," she mumbles. Adults need to stop changing the subject.

Rion nods, a slow gesture, like she knows this already. "You're going to change that."


	7. The New Stare

_**A/N: **_Hey all! This update is for the prompt- wash. nightshadegirl, thanks so much for keeping up. As always, please read and review!

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7\. The New Stare

Hikari spends the night in a sort of stupor, alternating between imagining the rain and sleeping. Neither come easy with the lines flashing under her eyelids when she rolls in the direction of the door, but she manages a little of the latter. The storm her mind conjures is little more than dark clouds and raindrops, but it's something, she hopes when she finally drifts off to sleep. Is it her imagination, or are the lines a little dimmer than before?

She thinks on this the next day, and imagines the storm once more. She looks outside and thinks of rain on the window panes, of clouds darkening the blue sky to gray. She smiles a little, suddenly hearing the pattering over the windows as the clouds made their way slowly past the hospital window.

"Hikari-chan?"

The hand on her shoulder makes her jump and she turns, the storm fading from her mind's eye. She slows her racing heart and smiles. "Mom!"

She isn't sure what it is, but her mother's face relaxes at the sheer delight Hikari gives her. What was wrong? Had she worried her yesterday? "How are you feeling?" she says before Hikari can ask.

Hikari thinks about it. "Mm…" She thinks about coughing and finds her chest is less tight, letting her breath. "Better," she says, looking around. "Onii-chan is…?"

"At practice," her mother replies and perhaps that's where the wrongness is, in that her mother looks bothered by something. "Dad's talking to the doctor right now."

"Un." Hikari somehow feels disinterested, like the dismissing of her brother is also dismissing her and something about that isn't comforting. "Am I going home?"

"A couple more days," Mom says, her voice a little tight. "You were in a coma for a year, Hikari-chan. You woke up from it rather quickly too. They're going to have to set up some tests, help you recover motor strength."

Hikari has very little idea what that means, but she figures it's why her arms have been hurting every time she's moved them or why she wants to sleep just from rolling her head. So she accepts that and closes her eyes. She wants to imagine it raining again. That sounds much better than looking at the look on her mother's face, which seems so sad and unhappy.

"Hikari-chan."

"Un?" She opens her eyes, a little cross about that.

"Are you angry at Taichi?"

Hikari blinks. "Why would I be?"

For some reason, her mother doesn't answer. Again with this adult thing of not answering questions, not even when the answers are important, especially when it is about Taichi, who she hasn't seen in what feels like hours to her but has been a whole year to them, she hasn't seen anyone, anything but that void, the place where every color is everything and all of them are not there at all.

She opens her eyes and breathes and her mother starts.

"Hikari… your eyes?"

Hikari rubs them, and finds nothing. She looks towards the water glass sitting innocently on the table and blinks, more puzzled than afraid.

Her eyes are blue, a brilliant shade of blue with multiple shades of red branching from the pupils like a growing tree.

Like Rio's, she thinks.

Only somehow, so much darker.

Her mother leaves to get the doctor, and Hikari only shuts her eyes to the lines and thinks of the rain. Maybe she will be able to imagine a hurricane now.

Her head is full of storm clouds.


	8. The Tiring Steps

_**A/N:**_ Hey everybody! Goodness, I need more sleep I think. Oh well. This is for the prompt-physical. All right, not gonna waste any time. I apologize for a bit of a snail's pace but she needs some rehab after sleeping for a year! All that said, I'm getting to it! Please read and review!

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8\. The Tiring Steps

For the fifth time that day, Hikari falls, almost-face first into the mats. Her elbows catch her and she bites her lip to keep the groan from slipping out. Two weeks since she woke up, and she's still having trouble walking across a straight path without a bar to hold. It's even harder, the rehab doctor says, because she's so small.

She rather likes this doctor, straightforward and nice and even a bit demanding. She doesn't snap at her when Hikari dazes off into the storm clouds like the phimusician does, but does call her back to work. Which she goes to.

Each step is slower and more painfully made than the last but she's managed another half a meter before collapsing this time around.

"Mm…" Minami-sensei murmurs. "Progress. Slightly. Drink?"

Hikari nods, taking the offered water bottle. She feels a bit like a toddler, being retaught how to move by herself.

She has to walk though. She has to run. She has to be able to move her hands. Her brother can't protect her as well if she can't listen to him and run if he says so. And the magic… she doesn't want to stay still if she can use magic. That's not how it works. All the people move when they use it. At least on TV.

"All right," Minami-sensei says, tapping her clipboard. "Again."

Hikari nods and starts to crawl to her feet again.

She thinks she can do this.

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They can't explain her eyes. The doctor says something about blood vessels and her parents nod as though that means something but Hikari figures it means they have no idea. So long as they don't look at the flowers, she'll be fine.

Her eyes aren't hurting her, so she's not going to worry about it. She settles in her wheelchair a little more. Taichi grins shakily from above her head. Their house isn't wheelchair friendly. This is just a precaution until they get outside. She was recovering. It was so slow…

But she is _moving_. Days and weeks and she had managed to run across the room with only a few stumbles.

She can almost forget the lines, in wake of that.

As she is wheeled out of the hospital, however, she sees Rion standing by the parking lot.

Her family walks right past her, almost through her.

Rion laughs. "I'm not imaginary, darling. Not yet. I'm in the storm. I'm in your storm. I'll see you tomorrow."

Hikari flexes her fingers, feels them move, and nods. There are less lines outside, and she shuts her eyes to them. Taichi just glances at her, then pokes her cheek. He pokes her again. She can't help it, she whines a bit.

"Onii-chan…"

"Hikari's thinking too hard," he protests, trying to smile. "We're gonna go home and watch cartoons and sleep!"

Hikari can't help it; she starts to giggle. "Are you gonna turn on _Super Sentai_?"

"What do you think?" Taichi's smile is so wide; it hurts to look at it. "That's gonna be me one day, right?"

Hikari giggles. "Nii-chan will lead a team to save the world!"

Taichi musses her hair and then pauses, hesitates. "Hikari… I'm sorry."

Again with this. Why does everyone think she's mad? "I should have kicked the ball better," she tells him and Taichi almost snorts. Their parents are bringing the car around and he's watching for them with one eye.

"Then I'll teach you next time."

Hikari smiles. Taichi's voice is shaking a little still, but it's better now. Maybe things will calm down. He shouldn't worry so much. She is his little sister after all.

She still doesn't look at them on the car ride home. The lines are dim, but they're not gone.

A few nights before, she had cut the lines. She cut the flowers with a tiny fingernail.

Everyone thought the flowers had wilted.

Hikari knows better.


	9. The Opening Statement

**_A/N: _**Good morning! Sorry for no update on Monday, I was still getting over a cold and couldn't get the energy to update. Thanks to all of you reviewers. You're all onto something... it's a bit scary, actually. Though this chapter drops a big hint... sort of. This is for the prompt 'afraid. That said, here we go! Please read and review!

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9\. The Open Statement

"Miko?"

Her cat mews, looking back from the balcony window. She skitters away from Hikari's still clumsy fingers as she reaches her. Hikari sighs. Before the coma, she had been easily able to catch her cat. Now it's hard just to keep up with her. But it was better now. She hadn't tripped yet.

"Alone at last?"

Hikari blinks, turning to the balcony. Rion sits on the metal rail, grinning like always. Her blue eyes sparkle and Hikari can't help but glance at the nearby mirror. Her eyes are their rose selves now, but they'll be blue again soon enough. They flicker, like old neon signs. It's strange but the doctors are trying not to worry.

She looks behind her, like her family will come through the door at any moment. Then she crosses the room and slowly pushes the glass door open. The warm breeze brushed her hair back and Rion spat red locks from her face. "It's easy to imagine the clouds now, and the rain."

"Of course it is," Rion said, and her smile isn't mocking, but so very relaxed, like she knew Hikari would say that. "Cause you don't understand what's going on, do you? Your family is acting in a way you don't remember, you're seeing weird lines with your funny eyes, and you can't walk so good. Don't make sense, do it?"

Hikari squints. "How did you know that?"

Rion smiles. "You know that already."

Hikari crosses her arms. She doesn't know. Whatever it is, she _doesn't know._ She's sick and little and tired and her legs are wobbling, she doesn't know _anything._

Rion steps towards her and kneels. Cold fingers trail down her cheek and there is a very quiet sigh. Even though she's been bathing in the sun for more than a few minutes, she is still so cold.

"You have to be careful," she hears Rion say. "You have to be, sweetheart. You could die, darling. I could do all this and you could still die. They are watching, they are looking after you, but they can't do anything here, you understand? They have no power here, not really."

"They?" Her parents, her brother, who?

"The creatures on the television. The creatures in the street." Her voice is so much like it's praying, so much like when Hikari sees them and thinks _maybe it's Koromon!_ even though it's not, not ever.

Hikari squirms. "You can see them." Maybe Rion can see _everything_, even into her head and everyone's minds and through walls.

Rion pulls back and shakes her head. "No," she says. "_You_ can see them." She stands and turns around, like the moment had never happened at all. "Now, close your eyes and think of the rain." Her voice is teacher seriousness with a child's shaking at the thought of being onstage, and Hikari figures she's not going to hear anything else.

So she closes her eyes.

"Imagine the rain in your hands, pooling up like you're about to wash your face. Cup your hands."

Hikari does, and soon she can't feel the sun on her bare toes. She says nothing, and eventually opens her eyes.

The balcony is empty but for her, and a sphere of water is hovering over her fingers. Startled, she lets it go and it splashes to make the balcony steam. Hikari stares at her hands, at a loss.

"Hikari!"

Taichi's voice. He sounds happy, really happy, like it was before. "What are you doing out here?"

Hikari stares at him now. She is scared again, but he sees nothing wrong. Maybe there is nothing wrong.

She smiles and makes slow steps towards her brother. "Playing with my friends!" The imaginary ones.

Yes, Rion is imaginary. Rion is her.

But where did she think her up?


	10. The Clockwork Movements

_**A/N: **_Sorry for how late this came up, I forgot because I was fixing something for the DFC. Also classes started again but hopefully I will not be that scarce. This is for the prompt-industrious. Please read and review! I'll hopefully respond to reviews at some point... Thanks for your patience!

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10\. The Clockwork Movements

Taichi wakes, and not for the first time, to find Hikari wide awake, staring at the ceiling. Her eyes are blue and he doesn't wince. He is the big brother and he is not scared. He is just worried, that's all, and being worried is not the same as being scared.

Still. Her eyes are that weird blue and not their reddish-brown and she is staring resolutely up at the ceiling like something is there. Then she makes herself stand up. Each move is slow, abnormally slow, because her body is still waking up to the world around it. She lifts herself to the tips of her toes and Taichi can't help but think she looks like a cat, stretching for prey that wasn't actually there.

Seconds later, however, she plopped forward onto her stomach, sinking slightly into the carpet.

Despite himself, he snickers. Hikari rolls over and stares at him. "Nice faceplant."

She giggles, no longer wide-eyed and worried. "Since when do you get up before me?" he joked.

"Since forever." Hikari giggles again as she says this. "Onii-chan is lazy when there's no soccer."

He huffs, reaching for the goggles that had somehow come off from his head. "Soccer is a lifelong passion, Hikari," he says with a grin. "Without it, what kind of man am I? Just your nosy big brother."

"My best, nosy big brother," she corrects, and the creases in her tiny, thin face seem to ease a little. He grins at this, swallowing the worry in his chest. He can be as freaked out as he wants, so long as she doesn't see it. She moves to crawl back into bed again. "I wanna run today," she announces with a yawn. "Can Onii-chan come too?"

"Sure." He says it without thinking and doesn't regret it. If he's with her, he'll be able to see, notice, help. He has to. He has to do it right this time.

Plus, the happy way she thanks him makes him to a little mental dance. She's been worried, upset, frightened.

When Hikari, his sister, is happy, that's when things are all right.

…

Hikari rolls over in bed, mentally grinning to herself. This will work. She will be able to get stronger. Clearly, her head wants her to do that, if it's showing her Rion. Being able to run will be strength! And she'll be able to ask her brother why they're all so… shifty. She never thought to compare her parents with a key on the English keyboard but it had happened!

If they were worried about her, she would run the best she could. Then they wouldn't have to anymore. Not even if she got sick.

Not even if she gets sick again.

_Dies again._

Hikari lifts her head. No one is there, not even Rion. Or maybe Rion is there.

Who is Rion? Is Rion really her imaginary friend?

She goes to sleep thinking about these questions.


	11. The Old Grind

**_A/N: _**Okay, wow, it's been a while since this one. I really am sorry for that. Real life and other obligations took over and by the time it was time to update, I couldn't drag myself up to do it. So, yeah, most of that should be settled by the end of the month, hopefully. Anyway, back to the fic. This is for the prompt: well-off. Please read and review!

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11\. The Old Grind

Almost two months after she wakes up, Hikari is told she can go back to school.

The thought almost makes her push away her breakfast, not that she hadn't already been considering it. She's never managed to like eggs much after Koromon. But she eats and nods mechanically, because what choice does she have?

Crazy or not, all children have to go to school.

She eats her rice with vigor and looks for Rion, hoping maybe she will give her something to make this easier. But there's nothing right now. Rion hasn't been there in so long, maybe she made her up to convince herself to stay awake.

So she gets ready for school. Physically. Mentally, Hikari is panicking. The lines, what if she cuts one again?

No, she won't. she can't. She is Taichi's little sister. She's strong enough to handle school. She's strong, or she will be. Strong means normal.

Even though she says that, Taichi didn't seem to get that memo. He follows her like a dutiful soldier right down to the faculty office, explains it all in this adult voice that Hikari finds herself not liking very much, and then she's sat down and given tests. At least papers aren't alive anymore.

She writes, her fingers sluggish. She doesn't like holding pencils anymore. What she wants to hold is steel, with a smooth hilt that she can put in her pocket.

Seconds after thinking that thought, Hikari feels ready to vomit. She almost does.

She swallows it, and tries to stop thinking about knives until she finishes the tests.

* * *

Taichi has hours in class, and the teachers are looking through her tests one by one, so there's nothing really for her to do. Hikari sits in another room, stares at the ceiling, counts the dots on the ceiling. She gets bored and tries to make the rain fall or heat up the sun but every time she tries, they think she's falling asleep and gently shake her.

She might as well sleep, for all the good it's doing her to be awake.

Then there is a tingling. It's a tingling at her ears that spreads down to her fingers and the soles of her feet but nobody notices. Hikari totters on her slow feet to the window and peers out into the sunny day. Children are playing, she can see her brother's hair bouncing as he runs and right by the swing set is a great big shadow.

It's staring at her.

Hikari can't explain how she's sure of this at first, but it is not looking at anything near it, and it is staring up. It blinks when she blinks. When she waves a hand, it follows the movement.

"Toilet," she blurts out to the adults, and runs.

On her way out, she passes one of the test papers. The grade is good. Maybe everyone will be happy.

When she passes another window, the creature is somehow closer.

_Who are you,_ she thinks? _Who are you?_

"I found you," she hears, so close to her ears that she can almost smell something at her nose.

But it's not caught up yet.

"It will," she hears Rion say. "You've got to be strong when it does."

Strong?

But strong is normal isn't it? If it's not, what is it?

"Alive."

Hikari doesn't realize that she's picked up a piece of glass until it's sliding across her fingers. All she can think to do is run.


	12. The Not Okay

A/N: Hey! Hoping to get back on my twice a week updating schedule this upcoming Monday. We'll see what happens. This is for prompt-tested. Read and review my good friends! if you want to, of course.

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12\. The Not Okay

Taichi bites back a groan of irritation. "Who lost the ball?"

It's just a pickup game of soccer, how can someone kick the thing that far out of range? Not even he's that competitive... some of the time. He shrugs his shoulders and goes to get it, glancing towards the school in the process.

He'd seen his sister's face when they had gotten there. She may _think_ that she's gotten the "I'm okay with everything" face down to a science, but he is the older brother and he knows when she really isn't okay.

He knows when she wants to say "no" but can't get the sound out.

This, sadly enough, was one of those times where he couldn't bail her out. She did have to go to school, despite being comatose for a year and having trouble walking and making sense and everything.

His sister was not as happy these days.

Dad wanted to send her to therapy(1). They thought he didn't know. Heck, she probably knew. Mom had vetoed it, because what would that say about them that they couldn't help their daughter?

Taichi thinks maybe she should go.

Not because she is crazy, but because she isn't telling them what's going on or she can't and maybe a stranger is better.

He picks up the soccer ball and sees a mop of brown hair fly past. He turns and sees his sister turn a corner. Without thinking, Taichi drops the ball and follows her.

Hikari's half run is slowing, she still can't do it as well, and eventually, she stops.

"Who are you?" she says. Her voice is clear and shaky somehow. There is nothing in front of her that Taichi can see, nothing behind her. Does she know he followed him?

"Why were you staring at me?"

Still silence.

Taichi wants to step out, ask who she's talking. She's too old for imaginary friends. She knows that, right? Maybe the long sleep gave her some.

"Are you friends with Koromon?"

It's the word_ Koromon_ that splits his head. He sees blurry images, feels the heat of fire, his feet almost swell with old pain.

Taichi hears a cheerful voice, his sister's whistle. It's so much, so much…

He almost doesn't hear Hikari again.

"Leave me alone!"

Now he can see it. He can see a gray creature, tall and hunched. It steps closer, each step a squelch. "Come," it rasps.

"No!"

It's the 'no' that makes him begin to run forward. "Hikari!"

Hikari peers through the gap. There's no relief in her face. "Onii-chan, stay away!"

He ignores that because he is the older one and scrambles on top of a dustbin. The monster reaches for his sister...

And his sister's hands swing.

The next thing he sees can only be blood, but it is pitch black and tar in texture as it splats the ground. From his vantage point, he sees rose red eyes turn to ice-blue and abyssal.

Hikari swipes the piece of glass again. At first, it seems like she's missed. Then there's another clean cut and the tar blood bursts over his sister's face.

She just swipes again. Her little face is so angry, the fear eclipsed by it.

"Go away!" she yells and it'd be less intimidating but for her eyes, the cold blue murder-chill of those eyes. "Leave me alone! I'm staying here!"

There's one more swipe, and the creature explodes all over the alley.

Taichi swears it laughs before that happens.

Then all of the mess is gone, leaving his wobbly-kneed sister with a piece of glass in her hand, hands dripping red.

She collapses, weeping.

it takes a few seconds for Taichi to go to comfort her.

It takes all of his courage to hug her.


	13. The Invisible Marks

_**A/N:**_ This is for the prompt-brown. Do apologize for the confusion of last chapter because this chapter probably won't help matters but I'm getting to the point where I can actually start making everything make proper sense. As always, I look forward to your thoughts!

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13\. The Invisible Marks

Taichi takes her back up to the classroom. He lies to his friends, saying he lost the ball and needs to get a new one. Hikari sees this from by the door. She squirms, but doesn't jump in and say it's her fault, because they might panic at the sight of her bleeding palms. He follows her dutifully to the bathroom, watching her wash her hands and rub her face and by the time she's done her hands are raw red and about to start bleeding again. He takes the first-aid kit and bandages them. His eyes are so quiet, mouth set in a thin line that's bursting to snap at the seams. Hikari can hear the words he wants to say, but strides past him before he can. Her face is still puffy, but not enough to attract attention.

She had cut the lines.

She had known what would happen. She knows right now that she can do it again.

Hikari clenches her hands tighter, so they won't stray, so they can't run away.

Taichi is right there, so she can't. She shouldn't, anyway.

But why does she _want_ to?

"Don't you like it?" Rion's voice said, her voice only steps behind. Hikari can't turn while walking, though she wishes she could, so she could see the expression Rion's wearing. "Look sweetheart, you saved yourself. That thing would have been kidnapped you, hurt your brother if it had gotten the chance. Would you be able to let that happen?"

Hikari curls her fingers into fists. No. No. Not that. She can't let that-

But why?

"Because kidnapping is _bad_, obviously."

Hikari almost giggles aloud. The absurdity of that statement hurts. She stops and lets her brother walk her on to the room.

Rion had said something she would say.

"That's because I _am_ you. Can't you see that?"

She wants to ask how or why and can't because the teachers are beckoning her forward to look at her answers and she doesn't care about the squiggles on the paper at all. She pretends to care, and then waits until they let her go home.

She has to pretend to be normal again. Then she can be normal again. Normal children go outside, go to school, play with their friends. Normal children don't cut lines in the air and hurt things. She can be normal.

Taichi's eyes, chocolate with worry, tell her it won't be that simple.

Even with clean hands, there's no way to say the blood was never there.


	14. The Parting of the Veil

_**A/N: **_Ironically enough, my song for this started playing as I finished the edits to this chapter. This is for the prompt-fog. I'm sorry I'm not responding to reviews or questions, but this chapter has dropped the biggest clues I have without outright saying it, so I was waiting for this one. Thank you outline, for derailing yourself.

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14\. The Parting of the Veil

By the time Taichi gets up every day, Hikari is awake and out of the room. She's at the table whenever he gets up, or coming in from outside. Her forehead is usually dripping sweat then but she just walks right past him. She seems more afraid to touch him than for him to touch her.

He doesn't know how to reassure her. Their parents know something is wrong at this point, how could they not? What can he say? He watched his sister kill someone and now she's scared of what he'll do, and he isn't sure if he should be scared or not.

Darn it, this is confusing.

She goes to school and he sees her smile there and follow the old friends into their new cliques (if you can call them that) and she tells him on their way home about the Sentai characters he knows about already and the bad books they need to read and he almost thinks everything is normal.

Almost.

Sometimes, if he wake up, he sees her on the floor of their room with a cup of water sitting on the carpet. The water floats from the cup once in a while, but mostly it stays there and ripples to an unknown force. All she does is sit there, breathing quietly.

He considers telling her, but he's still not sure what to say. He wishes he was smarter.

After a while, she stops doing it, and the water glass just sits on her desk.

It's around that time that Taichi thinks he's seeing things.

Hikari tugs on his shirt sleeve. "The light's green."

Taichi blinks his eyes and rubs them. "Yeah, sorry. Slept funny."

There's no way he could have seen a woman in their room-

"Maybe you shouldn't play today." Her voice quavers with that familiar worry that is so much his sister's and his heart swells a little.

He musses her hair. "Nah, I'll be fine, you know me." He will be fine, _soccer_ is the easiest thing in the world.

Hikari smiles, though her heart isn't in this one either. Taichi has a feeling that she's trying, so he takes that as good enough. "I'll cheer you on!"

"Then I'm gonna have to win."

"Of course you're going to win."

Taichi grins all the wider and laughs. He doesn't look at the red-haired woman as they pass her though he knows she's there.

He sees Hikari look instead.

* * *

Rion knows he can see her now. She takes advantage of it. What choice does she have? If they all can't see her, if they all can't _believe_-

Then Hikari's work, _her_ work, is all for nothing.

As long as they all see the truth, just this once-

The loops won't be for nothing. They can't be.

The deaths can't be for nothing.

This Hikari, the one holding tight to her brother's hand, will be the last like her. She will come back too, just one more time.

And that will break the curse, somehow.

Unfortunately, Rion has no clue what will happen after that.

It has been a long time since August fourth of 1999, after all.


	15. The Two Children

**_A/N: _**Sorry for how late this is! I was distracted. This is for the prompt-babies. Please read and review if you can!

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15\. The Two Children

Time is going the wrong way and oh so very fast and things are speeding along like they don't know any better. It's likely they don't.

Hikari loses her ability to control water. It happens around the time she notices her brother watching to check if she's asleep or awake. The water just stays in the glass and doesn't go still and float to her hands. Maybe she just doesn't want to use her powers anymore.

After that monster, she can't help but think that might be best.

She still runs. Her body thanks her. She feels her throat ache less and less, and with her lungs opening more and more and it is so much better than it was.

That's probably why she can sometimes smell smoke around Taichi and he doesn't notice.

She never says anything, hoping it will go away like the water. The lines won't go and Rio hasn't been back.

Where does Rio go if she's not with her? What happens to her?

She can never spend too much time thinking about this. It takes all of her mental energy to focus on school and not accidentally cut her papers.

Hikari spends her days tired and grateful for it.

Then it all spirals out of control.

…

"I'm Takaishi Takeru. I'm transferring here due to my mom's new job! it's nice to meet you all!"

The whispers erupt, little volcanoes around her ears. Another transfer student. Like her, but not. He's friendly. He wasn't in a coma. He'll be fine.

"Yagami-chan, please raise your hand."

She does, and the transfer student sits beside her. "Hello!" he says in a whisper. She smiles a little. He seems like a nice boy.

Does he notice the creature looming behind him?

"_We can take him if we can't have you."_

_Why though?_

No answer.

She resists the urge to cut into it right then and there, unexpected fear and anger boiling into her veins. She doesn't know where the urge comes from, but maybe it's her big brother's hero comple. She turns back to her work and begins to write.

Maybe this is the time to tell Taichi.

"Soon," Rion whispers. "Don't rush, it's soon. You're going to be fine. They will too. Just stay close. Trust yourself."

Hikari wants to not listen, but Rion has been right so far.

When lunch starts, Takeru joins her. She doesn't mind this, though the whisperers seem to. He tells her about his brother, and she tells him about hers.

That's as far as they get before it starts to storm and the power goes out.

Hikari can't help but giggle. Takeru is scared of the dark.

Not that she can blame him.


	16. The Broken Net

**_A/N: _**Hey! sorry for the lack of updates last week. Kept getting distracted. But anyway, here's this one. For the prompt bubbly. It's time to kick things off!

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16\. The Broken Net

In a castle, in another world, something explodes. For the Digital World, explosions are nothing new. Certainly feared and troublesome, but nothing new.

This one, naturally, is an exception.

"Quickly, scramble the original data!"

"Finish the backups! Begin package transfer!"

Robed people run from area to area, bundles in their arms. One in particular pauses in the middle of the scramble to look at one glass case. Gennai hesitates, then nods to himself. More than their data, more than the lives running around the castle, those eggs need to escape. He drops the packets of data to disperse into the air and moves towards the case, opening it with a single swipe of his hand. He wraps the pendants around his neck and reaches for the eggs.

That's when there's a loud crash from the other side of the room.

Gennai makes himself not turn, sees the others rushing forward. Mechanorimon move forward in jumps. There's a clash of Chrome Digizoid against steel and Gennai forces himself to ignore it, gathering one egg after another.

"Behind you!"

The warning is all Gennai has before one of the troops is on top of him. Gennai turns, stops thinking. He draws his sword and leaps. The Digimon is a vehicle, essential to keep things going. He has to hurry. if he doesn't, the Digital World will have a lot of clean up.

Or worse, those children…

He throws the Datamon inside out of the pod to crash against the stone floor. He doesn't bother to worry about what will happen to it. It's as good as dead, just like the castle is as good as gone. He places another egg in. A laugh resounds from behind him that is cynicism and earnest pleasure in one sound.

The room explodes as the last egg is dropped into the compartment. Gennai turns and blocks the sword. The clown only smiles, because he has more and he can use them all and who knows what else to get who and what he desires.

All of the vanishing corpses on the floor tell him that he can't let that happen. He spins himself, slashing at the Digimon's wrist. He doesn't have to hesitate with this. He just needs to buy-

A pain erupts in his torso. Piemon smiles, pulling his hand away. Gennai screams, his vision blurs, and he forces himself away from the fight. He clambers into the Mekanorimon, careful to avoid the eggs. Piemon lunges but Gennai makes for the hole left in the wall.

As soon as he's up in the sky, Gennai pushes the jet engines forward. Piemon is coming. He cringes in pain and almost gets hit by a flying sword.

"Come on, friend, just a bit further." One of the eggs shakes near his foot and he tries to smile. "You all will be all right. They're waiting for you, your children. You'll save them, you'll save us all."

The devices attached to each egg begins to glow.

* * *

Rion shivers. She looks over at the sleeping Hikari. Her face is tight with anxiety in sleep. Above her, the clock is ticking at awkward intervals. The television flickers on, then off again.

Another ripple. Another change.

She looks at her form. It fades for a moment, then solidifies once more. She watches the clock and its hands tick backwards.

A gentle light flashes and two small items drop onto the carpet. The children stir but neither wake.

Rion rises from her place in the corner to look, footfalls silent.

"So soon?" she whispers to no one.

Too soon?

Destiny doesn't care. The Crests of Light and Courage are sitting on the floor.

The clock goes forward again.


	17. The Incomplete Triad

**_A/N: _**Hi! Well, this happened. I was planning for this reveal to happen later, but eh, here goes everything! This chapter is for the prompt-three. Here we go!

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17\. The Incomplete Triad

Rion gives her no immediate explanation for the pendants on the ground. So Hikari picks it up. It's really pretty, at least the one she choose. It's a nice shade of pink, and the gold isn't too bright. There's a weird shape engraved in it. Is it a star?

"Hey, Hikari, did you get these?" Taichi is holding the other one rubbing his eyes. Her brother looks so normal and sleepy, it's kind of nice.

Hikari shakes her head. "Huh-uh. Maybe Dad got them and left them here as a surprise."

Taichi yawns. "We'll have to ask him when he gets home, I guess."

"Mm. I'm going to jog."

"I'll go too." Taichi grabs his jersey. Hikari can't help but wrinkle her nose. "I've got early morning practice. We can go together."

Hikari almost protests, but decides against it. It will be nice to see her brother play.

* * *

"Morning, Hikari-chan!"

"Morning!"

"Hi!"

Hikari feels her head spin. She had forgotten how friendly the soccer team was. "H-Hi," she stutters out. The lines, though harder to see now, almost transparent even, make her twinge.

One of the players, Hikari knows her, she's in Taichi's class, her red hair is unmistakable, Taichi mentions her by name all of the time, waves the crowd away. "Hey, I thought we were here to play." She laughs. "Let poor Hikari-chan breathe, will you?" She waves at Hikari, who scurries over. "You'd think you all weren't used to cute little sisters."

"Sora, you act like our sisters behave," one of the boys crows and Sora rolls her eyes.

Hikari files her name away. Sora, one of her brother's best friends, how could she forget?

"Well, you've never set much of a good example," Sora says dryly, winking at Hikari.

As she moves, Hikari sees a flash of gold. "Sora-san, you're flashing a bit…"

Sora tugged at her neck. "Oh, this was on my dresser this morning." She holds out a pendant similar to the ones on the floor this morning. She glances at Hikari. "Maybe my mom got it from the same store as yours did. But yours is cute!" She smiles and Hikari returns it, if only because the look seems a bit strained on the older girl's face.

"Onii-chan got one too, it's cool-looking, like it's on fire!"

Sora laughs. "He would get the one that's on fire, wouldn't he?" At the sound of a whistle, she waves at Hikari-chan and goes to join the others.

Hikari sits at one of the bleachers. "Rion," she says softly. "What are these things?"

The wind blows gently and for a moment, she thinks Rion won't answer. Then the woman stands behind her. "Power trinkets," she says, smile playing at her lips. "Symbols of who you are, what you're going to become. It's a bit early for them to show up though."

"Who we are? What do Sora-san and Onii-chan have to do with it?" Hikari manages to keep her face from looking ready to cry, even as her voice shakes.

"It's not just them, or you. There's more. You've been Chosen." Rion's playful tone wavers. "We've been chosen, you see. To save the world. You, them, me, we've all been chosen. But you have one thing left." Her voice is frantic all of a sudden, fast and sweet and almost afraid. "You have one more person to meet, and they're so important to us, so necessary. Our partner."

Hikari can only echo her words, bewildered.

Rion nods. "Ours, sweet girl. Our partner. Look. Look carefully at me now." Hikari lifts her head to stare. The blue eyes, so blue, suddenly fade away to a familiar rose color. "Can't you see?" Rion lets out a sad sigh. "I am you, and we don't have much time."


	18. The Gathering Souls

_**A/N: **_Gotta love when you write ahead and your brain decides to try something else. Ah well, screw the canon. Considering where this is going, I'm not particularly surprised. This is for the prompt - reaction! Thanks guys! And nightshadegirl... kind of? Well, not really. I hope this chapter clarifies it a bit more.

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18\. The Gathering Souls

Rion fades immediately after those words and leaves Hikari even more confused than she had been before. Rion was her?

Well, it would explain why she was always around and yet nobody but Hikari herself seemed to see her. At least, she had _guessed_ nobody could see Rion. The only one she could think of was her big brother and he hadn't said anything if he had. Taichi almost always tells her things, unless he thinks he'll scare her or hurt her or something. She has to ask him, but how?

"Hikari!" he calls to her and she blinks at the sight of him waving from the other side of the field. "Practice is over. Let's go."

"Un!" She hurries after him, trying to put it out of her mind.

It is an odd thought, but what if Takeru has a pendant too?

* * *

Takeru does have a pendant and so does the brother who she's never met. All through class, she catches him drawing its symbol on his notebook. Hikari itches with the urge to talk to him about Rion, about the lines and the things that have been happening. She wants to say something so bad but what if he thinks she's crazy? What if she gets him hurt?

What if those scary blob things go after him?

"We _are_ crazy," Rion says over her head. "Just have to roll with it darlin'."

"Who are you?" she mouths while digging her pencil into her notepad. It's almost cracked the lead.

"You," Rion says, and her voice is frightfully insistent now. "You after it all went wrong. You're going to see it soon. Your dreams will fall apart. I've come back so many times, for you, for us. You're our last chance. We are our own last chance to change our future."

"Prove it," Hikari says without moving her lips. It's a miracle no one's paying attention. It's scary actually.

Rion shrugs. "In that dream, that dream where you were in a coma, you saw a woman. She spoke to you, convinced you to wake up. When you did, you tried to crush your own eyes. Wrong?"

Hikari feels her blood chill because that is precisely right. She hadn't even told Rion about the lines, Rion had just known.

Rion fades at the touch of Takeru's hand at her wrist, reminding her it is time for lunch. She puts Rion out of her mind again, wanting to be normal, needing it again all of a sudden. Just for a while.

"Onii-chan apparently fought with Papa today," Takeru tells her as they eat and he says it very solemnly. It's both a big deal and not a surprise to him and that's a bit confusing.

"Isn't that bad?" Hikari asks, because her parents fighting is bad enough. That's gone down since she's woken up, but sometimes she goes for runs more because the air is tense and less because she likes it.

Takeru shrugs. "Nii-chan says it's okay, that's it's little and they'll forgive each other, but I think he's lying. So it's probably bad. I think Onii-chan didn't want me to visit this weekend. Their apartment is dirty and he hasn't had time to clean."

"That's a silly reason," Hikari says, because really, it is silly. Takeru can always help clean. She thinks he's worried about her, his eyes are always watching. He knows something's wrong, and they've barely known each other for a month. Perhaps Takeru is just perceptive. She chews her food and thinks of the ridges of her pencil.

"Onii-chan can be silly, sometimes," he finally says, shaking his head. "I dunno why. I mean, I'm not a baby anymore."

"We're always babies to them," Hikari says with a weary smile, thinking of Taichi. Thinking of his horrified face when she had _killed_ that thing.

She puts the image of his face and black goo out of her mind and keeps eating. Then her pendant begins to glow with his. Pink and gold sparks flutter into the air and there is a great, terrible wailing song.

Hikari grabs Takeru's hand. The sparks become beautiful lights that are warm whenever they touch the skin.

Then she is falling again. Falling into a very familiar void.

Only this time, Takeru is with her.


	19. The Strange Smells

**_A/N: _**It's back! No I didn't forget this. Just forgot to update. Well, now I'm scheduled, so I don't have a choice. Anyway, today's update is brought to you by the prompt "surprise". Please enjoy!

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19\. The Strange Smells

Hikari wakes to a searing pain in her back and the feeling of being watched.

The lines are _everywhere. _Her skin crawls and she considers pressing on her eyes so she doesn't have to see. At the groan on the other side of her, however, she restrains herself. That would be bad for someone to see.

The trinket is strangely warm around her neck.

Takeru sits up beside her. "Where are we?" His face pales. This isn't the school.

Not unless the school had been overgrown by trees and dirt and animals. Hikari picks herself up with care, offering her hand to Takeru. He takes it and frowns. "Hikari-chan, your eyes look funny."

"Are they blue?" She can't find water and check. He nods. Hikari shifts. Her head feels oddly clear. Rion's earlier comments aren't important, all that matters is surviving. All that matters is finding someone, some help, or at least not being in woods that could be full of bears or wolves or other giant monsters. "It's okay," she says. "I have superpowers."

She thinks Takeru will panic, because her brother got upset and she upset herself but all he does is grin. "Cool!" He lifts his head, looks around. "This place smells wet. Forest? Or there's water nearby." He pauses. "Mama always says to find water when you get lost because where water is people are too."

Hikari stops to think that her mother has never told her these things because she never imagines Hikari _will_ manage to get lost somehow. She nods to Takeru. "Can you find it?"

He looks around. "I'm not a dog, but it's really strong, so maybe!" Takeru smiles. "It's like we're on an adventure!"

Hikari wonders if there's more to it than that. Despite that thought, Takeru's enthusiasm is infectious. She's smiling."Yeah, but to do what?"

He huffs a bit as they walk. "To save the world! You're the mage and I'll get the super sacred weapon that beats up enemies in one shot!" He imitates it and Hikari giggles. She doesn't want to tell him that it's probably the other way around. Then he frowns. "I wonder if Onii-chan is here..."

Hikari hopes her brother isn't here. That probably means he is. Her luck has been pretty bad so far.

They keep walking and Hikari tenses. Something is probably following them. But why? They are small, probably not tasty enough.

A part of her panics because she actually thought that.

Takeru peers ahead and frowns. "Think I see it. His steps are cautious until he sees someone sprawled on the ground. "Onii-chan!"

Hikari was very glad her mother didn't drill swear words into her vocabulary at this moment. Takeru had bolted out of sight and she hurries after him. He's shaking a blond boy awake, or trying to, and only meters away is her brother, groaning.

_Hate it when I'm right. _She goes to help him and as she does, she hears something let out a machine whine. She scrambles forward and a yellow light hits the dirt.

Takeru screams and Hikari almost does the same. A horse with a human torso steps into view.

"What are you?" It snarls, one red eye fixed on them. "What are you doing here?"


	20. The Slip Back

_**A/N: **_Hello! This is for the prompt "breath". Please read and review!

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20\. The Slip Back

_Shouldn't we be asking you that?_

Hikari doesn't say anything at first, merely raises her hands. She can see the lines wavering before her, and is very glad she doesn't have a weapon right now because she doubts a _stick_ could even come close to cutting through the lines.

Then again, she'd used a piece of glass.

She mentally shakes herself as Takeru stands very slowly. The weapon trains on him. "Who are you?" it repeats. "What are you doing here?"

"W-We don't know," Takeru stammers. He was shaking, and Hikari would have been too if she hadn't already seen a blob monster of death in her lifetime. "Wh-What are you?"

"Our brothers are hurt!" It was probably a stupid thing to say with his laser thingy darting between them like that… she really wishes there wasn't a line _right in front_ of the eye, it is so hard to concentrate with it there. "Please help them!"

Takeru looks down at the sound of his brother groaning. "Onii-chan!" Another groan, one that sounds like pain.

The creature pauses. His eye flickers between them. "Are you humans, by any chance?"

Takeru nods so fast that Hikari expects his head to fall off. "Yeah!"

Hikari watches him start to relax for a moment. "Are you like Koromon?"

The laser lifts towards her face, caution returning to outright wariness. "What do you know of a Koromon?"

Hikari shakes her head. "I met one once. It was ages and ages ago." It isn't even that important; she just said it to say it and maybe not get hurt. She didn't like hurting people.

_Yes but you're good at it._

That isn't the point!

The creature lowers its weapon once more. "I see…. you are those. You are the Chosen ones."

Takeru and Hikari both look at each other.

"Please wait here a moment," he says. "I will provide transport for your… brothers."

He gallops away and Takeru and Hikari can only look at each other again in utter confusion.

* * *

The creature, Centalmon, leads them to a village that reminds Hikari of a playpen. It's adorable and pastel. She thinks of her old pajamas with a painful fondness.

While their brothers sleep, watched over by a creature that looks like a weird red porcupine, they are led to a man. He is aging, hair greying and falling away with each touch of his fingers. He smiles at them, gaptoothed.

"Chosen Children," he says, like that explains everything. "You've come early."

Hikari feels her skin beginning to crawl. There is still no Rion. She doesn't like that at all. "What… What's going on?"

"We called you here to help save our world," the man continues as though she hasn't spoken. "But it seems our calls came early… your partners have not awakened yet."

"P-Partners?" Takeru's fists clench. "Save the world? Why?" He's shaking a little. He probably wants to run. Hikari _really_ wants to run.

The man smiles. "Because you can."

_I don't like him, _Hikari decides. _He's as bad as Rion. _But they have no clue how to get home and their brothers are unconscious.

_We're at a disadvantage._

For some reason, she doesn't like that thought either.

"What partners?" Takeru glances at her and she shrugs. There's nothing they can do. She thinks.

The gap of a smile grows. "Wonderful question."


	21. The Innocent Bonds

_**A/N: **_I'm back! This is for the prompt - fresh! This took forever to redo. Sorry about that!

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21\. The Innocent Bonds

They are led to a playground by that centaur-creature. Gennai doesn't join them, his bones creak too much. (The two of them can't help but be relieved. The pastel colors here are almost blinding, especially when accented by the thickness of the lines. Takeru's hand is sweaty in Hikari's because she knows all they're thinking of with partners is the creature leading them and that their big brothers are still nowhere to be found.

Eight eggs tremble in a circle. It's like they're preparing to summon a god or something.

_No. They're summoning you._

Hikari's head snapped up. Rio's voice, her voice. She had heard it, but…

"Hikari-chan?"

Takeru's eyes were on her, heavy and worried.

She shakes her head. "Thought I heard something."

"This world can cause that." Centalmon's voice radiates sympathy and Hikari's not sure if she should believe it. Her eyes are back on the eggs. The lines wriggle around them, like they want to avoid them all costs.

Is she imagining it, or is one of them glowing?

Without thinking, Hikari pulls away from Takeru. Her feet stumble, but it's like there's a tether pulling her forward. She moves towards one, white with pink rings. Rings are far from lines. She likes that. She likes that a lot.

She places her hands over it. The shell is warm against her fingers. Kneeling, Hikari pulls it into her lap. A thud from next to her helps her see Takeru. His blue eyes are full of bewildered wonder.

She must look the same.

Hikari feels like she should be doing more to the egg, more than just holding it. But if she breaks the magic, will the egg break too? She wants it to hatch, she doesn't know why.

_Maybe Rio will come back if she hatches._

'She'? Who is she?

The she is obviously the baby. When will it hatch? Hikari can't help but want to meet her, whoever in this egg is making it feel warm.

She risks a glance at Takeru, who rubbing it like it's good luck. He looks so happy.

If it all wasn't so scary, whatever this world was, this part could almost feel safe.

But it's not.

* * *

Sora stops running, panting for breath. Not here. Another breath, she runs forward again, down the halls. She doesn't scream. That will just ask for trouble.

Still. She keeps searching the grounds.

Nothing.

Taichi and Yamato are gone.

They had never gotten along. They hadn't ever _not_ gotten along, but still. Where did they go? They wouldn't go fight, Yamato was too busy fretting over Takeru, who seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, and Taichi was too busy watching to see his sister, like Hikari-chan would jump off the school roof.

Then again, Hikari-chan hadn't been quite like herself since her accident. How could she be?

Maybe the worried older brothers were just checking on their siblings.

No, wait, she would have seen them by now.

She's broken from her thoughts by a sudden heat against her chest. The pendant she had found is glowing a gentle red. The air is whining. Her heart thumps madly in her ribs. What is happening?

From a nearby classroom, someone screams.

The sky has turned red.

Somehow, it is begining to snow.


	22. The Lost Restriction

**_A/N:_** This is for the prompt -rule, which it fit better when I started. Oh well. Enjoy!

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22\. The Lost Restriction

School was cancelled for the rest of the day.

This normally would have been great, except Taichi and Yamato still weren't in the school. Their siblings were nowhere to be found either. Sora wants to hope they have found each other and gone home like everyone else, but the worry twisting her gut says otherwise.

She peers in another classroom. She is no hurry to go home and be scolded by her mother. Also, Taichi is her responsibility, unofficially. She has to help him.

"Excuse me..." She slides the door open, expecting maybe a teacher frantically packing. Who she sees instead is Izumi Koushiro. She only recognizes his red hair from the soccer club. He just watches, but he's on the team. "Koushiro-kun? Why are you still here?"

He looks up, puzzled and startled. "Sora-san..." He shifts at his desk. His pineapple laptop is laid out on his desk to tinker with, screws and pieces strewn a bit messily about. "The teachers wanted someone to pick me up, but my mother is worried about the mood outside. His face grows puzzled and he shakes his head. "My father is coming to get me." He tries to smile; his lips only twitch. "You?"

Sora shakes her head. "Taichi and Yamato-kun, I haven't seen them since before the evacuation. I thought they would have gone home with their siblings, but…"

"But they've been gone too long, yes," Koushiro begins to readjust the case, putting the computer back together so fast Sora doesn't know how he isn't dropping things and losing them to the floor. He replaces the casing of his computer and put it away. "May I help you look for them?"

Sora smiles before she can stop herself. "Please do, thanks Koushiro-kun."

He flushes a little, which she does not understand.

The air lets out a gentle sigh and the pendant around her neck shines once more, as does one around Koushiro's own. She wants to ask where he got it, but there's hardly any time. The red sky flickers around them, swirling like an abyss of color. Then the air roars… and they're gone.

When Sora can see again, she sees plush, pastel, bright. Nearby, a girl is tugging at her dress, the pink tassels moving in the dying wind. She looks torn between tears and wonder as another boy panics, puzzled.

"Where's... this?"

"Sora-san?"

She looks behind her. Hikari is staring at her. Her rosy eyes now seem blood red. "Hikari-chan..."

"Why are you here?"

Before she can answer, the egg cracks in Hikari's lap. It cracks again, then the one in Takeru's does the same. Like dominoes, they all shatter into glowing light, and the air is full of baby cries.

"Wh-What is this?" Sora looks down to see a seedling hopping at her foot. She wants to jump away, wants to run into the hills. Hikari and Takeru, however, are playing with theirs, eyes wide. It's the most ordinary she has seen the little girl.

"Sora?" The seedling talks. The fear rises in her throat. Yet she kneels and picks it up in both hands. It bounces. "Sora! Sora!" She doesn't understand. She has made this creature happy. All of them, just by existing, have made these creatures burst with joy. All but two. They are hopping around Takeru and Hikari, sniffing, puzzled. They can't have two, the kids already have one.

Takeru jumps to his feet. "Let's get them to Nii-chan!" He's gone before anyone can say no. The creatures are on them in excited babbling before anyone can say no.

"We-" Hikari pauses, looking at the little white blob. "We're partners, or something?"

The blob nods. "Forever!"

Sora thinks that says everything and nothing at all.

Hikari looks at her like she has read her mind. "It's a long story," she says.


	23. The Promises Owed

_**A/N: **_Hello! Finally got this update out! This is for the prompt "dynamic"! Hope you enjoy!

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23\. The Promises Owed

The old man meets them and they find Taichi and Yamato disgruntled, but awake. Hikari can't stop shivering. The air is strangely cold, at least to her. It's eased by the touch of her brother's arm draped over her shoulders. He has a bouncing black blob in his lap and doesn't seem to know what to think of the poor thing. He doesn't recognize it.

Maybe that's for the best.

After all Hikari remembers, and it hasn't done her much good.

_'Kept you alive,'_ Rion whispers. Hikari has to not turn. Rion. herself. It's a myriad of sick fear and innocent worry. She's not gone after all. So… what? 'Listen carefully to him, dear heart,' Rio continues. 'You're about to hear a strange story and then you have a job to do.'

Hikari swallows, doesn't speak. YukimiBotamon, like her brother, curls close. But this is more of anxiety than simple 'I am comforted because you're here'. Hikari strokes the thin white fur, and closes her eyes.

The old man, Gennai, begins to speak. "Welcome, young Chosen, to the Digital World. Though I wish it were under less dreadful circumstances, the truth is that we, the residents of this world, need your help." His voice is soft and solemn. He is not going to pretend this is a gentle adventure, Hikari thinks to herself. The others see it too, in the way their young faces soften and sharpen, jolted from making complaints.

"With what?" It's not her brother who speaks first, but Takeru's brother. By her side, Takeru shifts. She can't see his face, but she can faintly smell copper from where he's bitten his lip. He had just told her how much he loved his brother, how much he treasured him, yet how little he understood him. Overprotectiveness when they barely knew each other.

Gennai, however, seems to notice none of this. Or maybe he does, she can't tell. "There are… demons, dark digimon that are beginning to wreak havoc in our world. We believe, with the power of humans, we will be able to stop them before they can start. Truthfully, we would preferred to have waited for you all to mature a little more, but your Digimon were very insistent on meeting you."

"You kind of have a big centaur guy with a laser," Taichi says. He sounds more relaxed than Yamato-san, but Hikari knows her brother can sound like that and actually be furious. "Don't you have a bunch of them?"

Gennai smiles with his few teeth, and even like that, the expression is bitter. "Our Digimon aren't strong enough. We are going to depend on you."

"W-Wait, are you nuts?" Jyou, she recognizes from school, often in the infirmary asking questions. "Do we look to be any stronger than them?"

"We have power." Hikari interrupts. She can't wait, she can't stand this waiting. There are more complaints than they have time to have answered, somehow she knows this. The lines begin to flicker into view again and she blinks, trying to squash the sudden urge to tug at the lines. She makes her voice grow stormy. "Don't we? That's why we're here. We can help!"

The others are staring at her. She doesn't care. Her eyes are focused on Gennai. he is manipulating, lying. So she needs one nugget of honest.

Gennai nods. She can see his eyes beneath his bushy eyebrows. There are lines on them. "Yes, you children have the power to change fate."

"You were..." squeaked the Digimon in her brother's lap. "You were promised to us! When we were made, it was in our egg. We knew! We were meant for you… and you were meant for _us_."

_'And that's the rub of it,'_ Rion whispered in Hikari's ear.

Somehow, she can't help but believe that.


	24. The Journey Forward

24\. The Journey Forward

There's multiple places to go, but the easiest one is the mountain above where Digimon are born and raised, Infinity Mountain. The main problem? Their Digimon aren't strong enough.

"Digimon tend to have to live and train for ages before they can evolve into a Child," Elecmon supplies, brushing his fur. "Growing up is similar for you humans, am I right?"

"With less weight lifting, yes," Koushiro mutters, watching his Pabumon chase the two Botas around.

"Or exercise," Mimi adds. "Is that even okay? They're babies!"

"Baby Digimon are hardy," Elecmon says with a small grin. "Hardier than the squishy flesh of a human!"

"Excuse me," Hikari comes up. Immediately, her partner is bouncing at her ankle, desperate for attention. Hikari obediently picks her up, smiling at the tiny ball of fluff. She quickly sobers. "Are there any knives I can use?"

Sora sees Taichi's eyes darken with wariness, a chill running up her spine. Elecmon shakes his head immediately though. "Around babies, are you _joking_? All sharp things are kept far away from here. Why do you even looking for something like that?"

Hikari doesn't blink. "I need to defend myself. YukimiBotamon is still small. And we can't clean fish or make food as easily without sharp things, right?" She looks at her brother, like her questions aren't weird. Taichi shakes his head in agreement.

Elecmon shrugs. "True, your teeth ain't that sharp. There's a storage spot up ahead. I'll guide you." He glares playfully at all the squeaking little ones. _"Stay_."

"Thank you!" Hikari looks at the others. "I'll bring one for everyone!" She leaves, her partner bouncing on her shoulder.

Yamato turns to Taichi. His classmate's expression is stony and exhausted. "What was that?"

Taichi grimaces and shakes his head. "It's how she's been for a while." He doesn't want to explain it. It's his fault. If he hadn't pushed her to go outside...

"You can't just say that and end it!" Yamato moves closer. He's worried; Taichi knows that's all it is."We're going to be fighting for our lives because she's so insistent and won't let us say no! It's not that simple."

"She's been in a coma for two years!" Taichi snapped. "What, you think she's just going to be fine, Yamato? You think I'm just _cool_ with this? Something is wrong with my sister and it's _my fault_!"

Silence greets these words. Sora chews her lip. Perhaps she shouldn't have kept that a secret after all.

Then someone laughs, causing them all to jump."You're always taking the blame for every effect of your reckless mistakes. That's arrogant."

Taichi turns. "You're the woman from... no." He pauses, looks closely for the first time.

Hikari has never been fond of mirrors, so it's natural she doesn't see what Taichi does. The eyes are familiar, wise and tired and red. The way she stands, with her hands close to her chest. Though red, her hair is cut the same now. There's a faded scar at the elbow that she's always had.

"Hi-kari?" He hadn't thought so before, but now...

Rion nods. "I don't have much time, I'm afraid. But Hikari knows as much as she can, so you need to. Please listen."


	25. The Action Plan

25\. The Action Plan

Rion doesn't chew her lip, doesn't bow her head at the many stares. She doesn't have much left in her to waste on theatrics, especially not with her past-self around to restore her energy. Besides, she's given worse speeches to larger crowds. She can do this much.

She takes a deep breath and gestures to their Digimon. They perk up. "This is all happening a lot faster than i expected it to. I believe it's affected by my being here, so I apologize in advance for that. However, I wouldn't be here if I didn't have a choice." She lets out a sigh. "Whatever the case, much of the events following this conversation will happen to you because you were chosen long before my -Hikari's- fate, was turned off course. I can't be sure of how much Gennai - the old man- will tell you, but here is the basic idea. There is a creature behind a place called the Wall of Fire who was created by this world, if unintentionally. Right now, they are causing distortions to it, creating creatures to conquer it. One of those creatures, Vamdemon, was sent to the human world originally in 1999, in an attempt to quell the rebellion started by choosing all of you. By eliminating the eighth, it hinders your full strength. by eliminating one, he can kill the rest."

"He came to kill… you," Koushiro says slowly.

Rion shrugs and nods. "Wouldn't be the first time." She sees them flinch and lets out a sigh on the inside. She keeps forgetting; still ordinary kids. Hikari had wanted to be; she still does. The trouble is that Chosen Child and ordinary life tend to be clashing ideals in crisis time. "Let's not forget, he came to kill all of you. Or he certainly tried. He left you behind in this world, assuming you would die in his collapsing castle. You didn't," she adds. "You got close, so very close. But Yagami Hikari died that day. No one could stop a second attack. Naturally, he took care of you next before you could think."

Rion waits, watching all of their faces, watching Takeru grip Poyomon so tightly the jellyfish starts to squirm. They can't express, they are too horrified. Even Taichi is startled by how simply and bluntly she puts it. He doesn't want to believe her. She understands.

"Generations later...Rion awoke, in a world where light and dark are reversed. No one questions that, for the most part. I worked to create a team, a revolution… it went about as well as you'd expect." She scratches her head. "So instead, we looked for a new way, a way to change the course of history. We discovered it… so that's why we're here now."

"We?" Koushiro interrupts before someone else can speak, before someone can voice their disbelief. Thank Homeostasis for that. She doesn't care if they believe her anymore. Her time is almost up. They just need to _know_.

Rion nods quickly, tapping her long fingers against her arms. "Yes, one other is with me. Unfortunately, in all my searches, I have not been able to find her. Wherever she is, she will be a much better help than I am, sad as that is." She laughs. "Problem of the same person existing twice. Not supposed to work, ya know?"

They all stare at her, aghast.

Finally, Jyou speaks up. "I'm sorry but this all seems… impossible."

Rion snorts. She had been so close to avoiding this. "You're holding a baby monster in your lap and came here through what looks like a kid's toy. You worry about impossible now?"

"Mass hallucination," he counters. Rion's impressed, despite herself. She had figured he would quail in the face of her lack of sympathy. Must have gotten him on a good day.

"Mass hallucinations aren't usually quite so detailed or still dedicated to the laws of physics and common sense," she says with a smile. "Good try though."

Taichi makes to speak, but he's cut off by the sound of Hikari screaming. The others jump to look. Rion only smiles.

They would hear that scream and think of fear. Rion hears that scream and thinks of joy.

"Looks like you made it after all," she says as she disappears, watching the Chosen Children go. She can try to tell them more later, but she's left enough to get the cogs turning.

At least, she hopes so.


	26. The Ruthless Vassal

_**A/N: **_Well, this fic just did a 180 on me. Oops. Enjoy! Last chapter's prompt was 'teaching' and this chapter's is 'rake'.

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26\. The Ruthless Vassal

Hikari doesn't have the strength of years of practice. She doesn't have the speed of years of running or knowledge of the terrain. She is outclassed. with every swipe of the girl's hands, she knows it. She's barely able to dodge, and she can tell the only reason she can is because this girl is holding back. The lines slip and slide out of vision and into it and _they don't help_.

Still, when she ends up on her stomach and seeing stars, it stings. Like somehow, she should be able to win.

"Yagami Hikari-san?" The girl's voice is tinted with mild concern, belying the knife centimeters from her ear. A sharp pressure - knees?- digs into her back and it hurts a lot more than she had imagined it would.

Hikari manages to nod. The pressure doesn't lighten.

"Miwa Hayate," she says, her tiny voice ghosting into her ear. "Forgive my intrusion."

The next thing that Hikari feels is pain, nothing like the cuts and bruises, nothing like the exhaustion and the pressure of killing that monster. It is like being cut herself, cut in a line that can't be healed. Something sticky, blood, seeps from the wound and spreads in a slow ooze. She whimpers pain and the girl twists the knife.

"Data, install."

In the months and years to come, Hikari will recall thinking that she never wants to hear those two words again.

For now, all the broken little girl can do is wail to the heavens until she can no longer breathe.

YukimiBotamon rolls and writhes on the ground, shooting diamonds of snow into the air in helpless rage. Hayate picks her up by one of her fluffy ears and stares at her, crimson eyes narrowed. "If only you weren't necessary," she says. The Baby freezes mid-bounce, down to the expression, like its time had stopped moving. "If only you were not necessary, you would live your last moments in peace." She drops the motionless Digimon into her hood. Then she kneels, waving a hand over Hikari's body. The wound closes and the little girl sighs at the unconscious one.

"Rion-sama," she murmurs. "My lion mistress, you will awaken soon… but even if you do not, even in this maze, I will…" Hayate lifts Hikari up and smiles with only a twitch of her lips.

"Come," she says to no one, and yet she is sure the arriving children will hear. "To Vamdemon-sama. He will welcome you… I will make certain of that."

She vanishes.

Rio hears Taichi swear and chuckles. Oh her Hayate-chan, ever the dramatic.

She wishes cigarettes could handle time travel.

* * *

In the underground of the Server continent, an egg hatches. It hatches alone, in the dark. Its black eyes blink at the emptiness around it. It smiles.

Then the world turns red, red as its little needle furs. It turns to blood, blood which curdles the starry sky outside. The world is full of pain, broken and angry.

When it calms, there is a man standing in front of the creature. The world seems heavier now, with this man's presence.

"Hello, Punimon," it says. Its voice is low, curdled with derision. "I have been sent to keep watch over you. You don't know why yet, you are too small. But you have a job to do. The plans of the great ones above us have been changed. So you must fulfill your duty, and kill."

The Punimon smiles again, though this time it does not know why.

Vamdemon does. It will learn.


	27. The Scattered Trail

27\. The Scattered Trail

Nothing.

Freaking nothing.

They look around the area and there is no indication of a trail, no indication that Hikari had even been here. Only a bloody rock and a fallen knife remain.

Taichi kicks the rock and snarls at nothing. Botamon sits at his foot, drooping and small and forgotten until Taichi picks him up again. His body shakes with fear and anger and guilt. He's lost Hikari. He's lost his baby sister again. How many times can he screw this up?

Yamato is holding Takeru's hand and he doesn't look accusatory as he does. He looks tired, as tired as Sora does afraid. Because he knows there's stuff wrong with his sister and that includes the fact that her future self went back in time to keep her from dying and he can do nothing. Nothing at all. Does this mean it's over? Does this mean she's going to die even sooner?

"Do you think they've left the island?" Koushiro's voice, so logical and solemn, cuts through the hysteria, calms it until it's almost bearable.

"It will be noticed if they do," murmurs the low voice of Centalmon as he arrives. "The Net Ocean is not something you can simply swim across."

"So we have time," Taichi says to himself. Then, without thinking, he bolts, straight ahead, in the direction the blood stains had been left from. The others shout after him but he doesn't care. All he thinks of is Hikari. Hikari and her red eyes so cold with the knife and so helpless and scared while crossing the street. Her fake smiles and the sobs when that monster chases her.

He will save her. He will. He will.

"Taichi!" He looks down. Botamon is no longer fluffy and black, but scaly and pink. "We'll get her back! I'll protect you and her too!"

His little voice is so enthusiastic, so accepting of making this new reality, that Taichi feels a spring in his step through all of the dread.

"Heck yeah!"

Whether the others are behind him or not, he's off. And they are. All but one.

Takeru pauses, and looks up through the trees. A mountain is forming, all hazy and black. Something about it isn't right.

Mountains don't form in minutes.

* * *

Hikari feels the rocking of water around her when she wakes.

She still can't move, probably for the best because movement sounds awful right now, but she is aware of movement. The boat moves along, coaxed by wind and occasional rows. The eyes on her are without pity, but not unpleasant.

"I love you, Rion-sama," the girl says, perfectly monotone.

She does. The pulsing in her head says so. A door is trying to push open in her head. It hurts, it hurts like fire.

"You will save the world, Rion-sama." The small fingers tug at her brown locks. "You will save me, Rion-sama. From this fate. From this awful reality."

Hikari is less certain of this.

"You will," the girl insists, as if Hikari had spoken aloud. "You don't have a choice. He won't let you go once he knows of you. So you must end him. And you will. For here is what he will do if you don't."

The girl speaks, on and on, drawing breath and occasionally sipping water. The tale begins with a simple statement.

"The fog never goes away, and neither do the monsters. There is no myriad of worlds. There are only two: theirs and the ruin."


	28. The Onion Tears

28\. The Onion Tears

As the girl speaks, Hikari feels sick. The baby in her hood is crying, crying for her sake, but in another world that wasn't the case. In another life, she was floated through glass, hair yanked and watching her brother's friends be centimeters away from death. In another life, this little baby didn't care until it was almost too late. If this girl was telling the truth. if she was. She feels a heavy helplessness in her stomach the more the girl speaks, comparable to carrying a bowling ball half your weight. She can't form tears or even make sounds as the girl drops the boat at a new shore, like rowing across an ocean is nothing. She can't even panic because where would she even go? Even if the girl is lying, what can she do?

The girl smiles, as though she is saying nothing special. "You told me my abilities were beautiful, Rion-sama. When you found me, offspring of a time master, contemplating suicide at the edge of a bridge. You looked at me and talked me down. You told me you could change this and I believe you. I'll always believe you."

Is this what blind loyalty feels like? This girl came from another time to... to what? To teach her, to train her? What?

Hikari's body sags suddenly into the wood of the boat. The girl tosses her two knives. "Start running. Don't drop them."

It goes against every bit of knife safety that she knows, but Hikari feels her own helplessness, and goes to obey.

The girl watches her dash through the sand and turns on the creatures of black and grey rising from the sea. She is not prepared, and anyone with eyes can see it. The contract is not complete.

Clearly, the dark creatures don't care. They lunge for her.

* * *

The children camp near the mountain that night. All of them are curled around or near each other for warmth, except Taichi. He's leaned against Sora's shoulder, Koromon in his lap.

His stomach turns. He shouldn't have picked first watch. The fire crackles gently, as if scolding him.

His sister's face, contorted in pain, then peaceful in sleep, washes into the forefront of his mind. He shuts his eyes, guilt stabbing his stomach. Why did he keep failing? Why did this have to happen?

It was easy to believe everything would be all right when everyone was watching. Now it was so much harder. Koromon had no idea why Hikari was important to him, only that she was and no clue how to help. The others weren't much better.

And listening to that… future version of his sister, seeing her so old and… changed. He swallowed bile at the memory of it. Rion, she had called herself. Only a spirit, fading by the moment. That meant the future was changing. That could mean, maybe… somehow, they would be all right, wouldn't it? In his head, it certainly sounded great.

Takeru sits up suddenly, his little slime on his head. He starts walking. Taichi hisses to him, figuring maybe he just wants to water a bush. Takeru doesn't respond. If anything, he runs. He nudges Sora awake, then gets up to go after him.

Granted, Taichi doesn't have a sneaky bone in his body, but Takeru doesn't seem to notice. He keeps walking into the trees until a trio of black, swirling gears began to circle his head. More appear slowly, turning towards each child one by one as they approached.

A little red monster smiles and hops from a tree, glowing with power.


End file.
